This is an old recipe from the Homesteads. Don’t you just love the name? Being a kind of angel food cake it should, obviously, be made in an angel food cake pan. I had a moment of mommy brain and made it in a Bundt cake pan, though, and it turned out super yummy regardless.

You [...]]]>

This is an old recipe from the Homesteads. Don’t you just love the name? Being a kind of angel food cake it should, obviously, be made in an angel food cake pan. I had a moment of mommy brain and made it in a Bundt cake pan, though, and it turned out super yummy regardless.

You will need:

• 4 eggs, separated
• 7 Tbsp water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon extract

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside
3. Beat egg yolks and water for 5 minutes; add sugar and beat 5 minutes; add flour, salt and lemon extract and beat 5 minutes; fold in egg whites
4. Bake at 325 in ungreased tube pan for 30-40 minutes; turn upside down to cool then run a knife around the edge to free from the pan
5. Slice and mail to your sweet friend/Kiddo’s babysitter who has had the nerve to go back to college (this step optional)

Kiddo’s Aunt Burgle came in town for her birthday this year. Party! We always make Krispy Kreme bread pudding when she’s here but I wanted to up the ante a bit with some chocolate and some icing, it being her birthday and all. Want to try it yourself? Break out your fat pants and gather:

Eggs. Oh my moly the eggs. The EGGS! They are so good but they are taking over my house. It’s like kale, but the carnivore version.

In an attempt [...]]]> When we signed up for our CSA this year we knew we weren’t veggie-adventurous enough for the produce share, so we went with the meat and eggs option.

Eggs. Oh my moly the eggs. The EGGS! They are so good but they are taking over my house. It’s like kale, but the carnivore version.

In an attempt to use up some a bunch of them at once I came up with this ridiculously easy little number:

This was SO quick, and crazy filling with all the protein in there. You’ll need:

• 1 pound breakfast sausage
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 6-8 eggs
• Salt and pepper

To make breakfast appear:

1. Turn on oven to 350F
2. Brown sausage in a non-stick skillet, crumbling as you go; drain out grease
3. Sprinkle in cheese
4. Beat eggs and add some salt and pepper, then pour over sausage/cheese mixture in the skillet; adjust amount of eggs for size of your skillet, obviously
5. Bake at 350 for about ten minutes until eggs are set in the center. Breakfast is served!

Confession: I wasn’t sure I’d like this. I remember making eggnog all the time when I was a kid (sans rum, obviously), but at some point my mama started getting creeped out by raw egg consumption and nixed it. That was so long ago I wasn’t sure I’d even still enjoy it.

These days I live [...]]]>

Confession: I wasn’t sure I’d like this. I remember making eggnog all the time when I was a kid (sans rum, obviously), but at some point my mama started getting creeped out by raw egg consumption and nixed it. That was so long ago I wasn’t sure I’d even still enjoy it.

These days I live on the edge. I drink raw eggnog. I eat raw cookie dough. I do not, however, run with scissors; I’m pretty sure my mama would rise up and strike me down, and no one wants to see that happen.

Since eggnog and I were just getting to know each other again I made a small batch using Alton Brown’s recipe:

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1/2 tablespoon
• 1/2 pint whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 egg whites

For the living-on-the-edge uncooked version:

1. Beat yolks until their color lightens (I did this in a large glass bowl with a whisk). Slowly add 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until all sugar is dissolved. Add milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg, stirring to combine
2. Using an electric or stand mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. While mixer is still running slowly add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and continue beating until egg whites are at stiff peaks
3. Pour yolk/milk mixture into stand mixer and mix just till combined
4. Chill and serve!

For the taking-no-chances cooked version:

1. Beat yolks until their color lightens (again, large glass bowl with a whisk works great). Slowly add 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until all sugar is dissolved. Set this aside
2. Set a medium saucepan over high heat and add in milk, cream and nutmeg. Bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat. Slowly and gradually temper the hot milk/cream mixture into the eggs and sugar, stirring all the while.
3. Once combined, pour everything back into the saucepan and cook until inserted thermometer reads 160F degrees. Remove from heat, pour into medium mixing bowl and stir in bourbon. Set in the refrigerator to chill
4. Using an electric or stand mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. While mixer is still running slowly add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and continue beating until egg whites are at stiff peaks, then whisk egg whites into chilled mixture and serve

Verdict: fantastic stuff! Even The Yankee liked it, and he was nearly positive he wouldn’t. This is also crazy good with amaretto instead of rum. Give it a try!

Okay, you have my attention. The truth is that I tried for years to learn to make omelettes and they were always, without fail, consistently awful. Rubbery and browned and thick and generally unappetizing. I don’t remember how who “taught” me to make them, but it involved flipping them [...]]]>

“How about dinner in half a minute?”

Okay, you have my attention. The truth is that I tried for years to learn to make omelettes and they were always, without fail, consistently awful. Rubbery and browned and thick and generally unappetizing. I don’t remember how who “taught” me to make them, but it involved flipping them like a pancake and the results were horrid.

One look at this video of Julia Child making omelettes and I’m converted. Did you know these could be so easy? I certainly did not! But it turns out they are. And in the time it takes The Kiddo to say “I don’t wike it” I’ve got my new standard breakfast almost ready to go. It’s insanely easy to throw in some chopped up whatever-was-for-supper-last-night and a little cheese and I’ve got a meal. This one has chopped colby jack cheese and some leftover turkey from Martin’s, one of middle Tennessee’s greatest treasures: a BBQ joint which you really, really must try at some point in your life. Anyway, the protein in this omelette keeps me going all morning, and the fresh eggs are amazingly nutritious, tasty and pretty. By the way, as long as you’ve made the trip down to Martin’s, you can’t leave without stopping at the Nolensville Feed Mill too. Julia child said she was very careful about where she buys eggs, and so am I –  the Feed Mill is the only place I’ll buy eggs. Don’t you love their gorgeous yellow color?

Your turn! What would you put in an omelette?

The eggs The [...]]]> I kind of feel like summoning Sam I Am, just to tell him I do like deviled eggs. If you had asked me a week ago I would have said absolutely not, no way, no how do I like deviled eggs. Not in a boat, not on a train… you get the picture.

The eggs The Kiddo dyed watched The Yankee and me dye for Easter were super-yummy farm fresh eggs given to us by a friend of The Yankee. And it sure seemed a waste to just chuck them, especially since I’d tried a new boiling method for them while under tornado warning — setting timers and hiding in coat closets at the same time. Multi-tasking, no? So I figured I just HAD to try them. And whaddaya know? Pretty stinking good!

I read somewhere (naturally, I can’t find it now) that this was Julia Child’s method for hard-boiling eggs. Who am I to question Julia Child? Nobody, that’s who. It goes like so:

1. Put your eggs in a pan and add enough water to come one inch over the eggs
2. Set the pan on high heat and bring just to a boil
3. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let it sit covered for exactly 17 minutes
4. After 17 minutes, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water with plenty of ice cubes in it.
5. Put the pan back on the burner on high heat and return to a boil while the eggs chill for two minutes (apparently this shrinks the body of the egg away from the shell)
6. Put the eggs back in the boiling water, bring to a boil once again if need be, and let the eggs boil for ten seconds (this expands the shell away from the egg)
7. Remove eggs and place them back into the ice water; leave them there for at least 20 minutes

After eggs are properly chilled, let your two year old thwack the eggs into a basket with absolutely no regard for gentleness or fragility. Repeat three times for most thorough cracking of eggs.

Now make deviled eggs! I based mine on Joelen‘s yummy method.

You will need:

• One dozen hard boiled eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
• About 1/2 cup mayonnaise (the real stuff here, people)
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 cup croutons, food processed into crumbs
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika

1. I started by slicing the eggs in half, and admired the straight edges my toddler managed to impart onto an egg. But see how nice the color is? No dark line. That Julia Child should write a book
2. In a food processor, pulverize some croutons – I used homemade from no-knead bread- down to crumbs
3. Scoop out all the yolk from the eggs and toss it in the food processor along with a healthy squirt of mustard and just enough mayo to hold the mix together — I wanted more egg than mayo flavor
4. Squirt in about lemon juice and season the whole mix with salt and pepper
5. Process till mostly smooth, but the crumbs in the croutons will keep it from being absolutely smooth, of course, and that’s fine
6. Pipe or scoop the filling back into the egg yolks and season it all with paprika

Pretty yummy, right? The farm eggs had a fantastic yellow color that made these just gorgeous. And SO GOOD to eat! Who knew?

For the record, I still reserve the right to run screaming from any deviled eggs (or anything else) that have been anywhere near a pickle.  ::shudder::